More Then Meets The Eye

Transformers! From Comics, TV, film and other mediums have all tasted the glory that are the Transformers. Robotic aliens from the planet Cybertron here to destroy earthlings as the Decepticons or same them as the Autobots. Battles to protect the earth from evil! That is what stories are mad of. Good vs. evil is always a good story to watch, especially when it involves lots of giant explosions.

Leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, is a being of wisdom and power. Ready to fight for the greater good and even sacrifice himself for what he belives to be true. Nobility to its highest standards without the segregation usually brought on by such behavior. The Autobots let all into their ranks, without making even the smalest human look or feel insignifigent compared to themselves.

Leader of the Decepticons, Lord Megatron is the most evil creature in the galaxy with Starscreen as his second in command all the while destroying worlds trying to obtain power to destroy the Autobots. Uncaring and ready to destroy the most beautiful and irreplaceable things in order to obtain what they need.

The cartoons were always great years ago and the remakes keep up even today. The movie in 2007 and the new one soon. The Transformers can not be beaten in their subject. No "Gobot" could look at one of the Transformers without malfunctioning in their awesome.

Sleep & Dreams

Oh how we all sleep, or at least should, every night. A sleep cycle c comes to each of us, on average, every sixteen hours and upon that time we need a recharge. It is here, in our sleep, that we are the most vulnerable but it is also the time when we are the most free. Free to do, be, and act out anything we may otherwise not be able to in our daily lives. Free to live in a world of chocolate or fly without an airplane during a quietly violent thunder storm. Our dreams get filled with so many great and wonderful things but, the problem is, they are only dreams.

Some of us do not always, and sometimes not at all, have the greatest or nicest dreams but why? There are those who have nightmares or worse night terrors and can not have the dreams that they so desperately need. It is a sad fate for we, as humans, need our dreams. They provide with guidance and support for things we may not even realize were needed. The dreams we all have keep us sane!

There are ways to help encourage our dreams. One of the most popular and well known is called lucid dreaming. It is a state where you realize you are sleeping and then may have power to control the situation to your will. Lucid dreaming can be induced in many ways but the easiest is to have a form of constant external stimuli bombard one of your senses while you attempt to sleep. The most common and least obvious is music.

While listening to music in your sleep does not always actually induce a lucid dream, at times, it allows you to generally set the mood before you walk off to dreamland. Depending on the type of music, tempo and beat depends on how it effects the slumber world. Words to songs have a profound effect on the mind during sleep, as well, but it is harder to understand their effects. The tempo, beat and other things are obvious to the conscious mind on how they may or could effect the subconscious but with words, there is a problem as each word means more or less to each individual.

Another and more direct way to induce lucid dreaming is with visual stimuli. This can be done with certain types of glasses you can buy or make which, usually, shine a low intensity beam onto your eyelid as you sleep. It may be difficult to sleep like this, especially when listening to music is more natural, but the benefits are great. Once you are sleeping the light becomes a stable among the dreamer. They still see it even while they dream so this is a key trigger to yourself that you are indeed sleeping. Upon this time, most people actually wake. There are those that can deal with this knowledge and they manipulate their dreams to fulfill fantasies.

Dreams, sleep, dreaming: Things that make up a third of our life and so few actually enjoy them. There are even those that wish they did not dream and have no nightmares or night terrors that would make them worry. These people are clearly not aware of the power they wish to remove from themselves. Then again, perhaps they wish to have themselves go insane.

Note: Due to sleeping and dreams I almost did not post so I figured a post relevant as such would be appropriate and possibly funny.

Holes

Dig it uh oh oh,
Dig it
Dig it uh oh oh,(oh)
Dig it uh oh oh,
Dig it
Dig it uh oh oh (oh)

Originally this blog post was actually going to be about the fun you could have while digging a random hole. That changed awfully quick once I goggled the word "hole" like I do for all of my posts* and found/remembered a song which was sorta kinda relevant to the situation. Now there shall be talks about holes as a whole and the song. Both have their own amusement but one of the two does not require you, as a person, to move from your current spot to enjoy.

The song, which is from a movie based on a book with the same name of Holes, is about the experience a correctional youths had to endure. The book and movie Holes is mainly about Stanley Yelnats and his "adventure" to eventually fix his families curse. There is also some odd history wound into the story which, unless you have seen the film, would not make much sense to you if I explained anything.

Actually hole digging, however, was the original intention of this post. While I was searching the net for "info" on hole digging* I stumbled across something interesting. The story of a man and his hole. A link to the guy's "home page" can be found in my sidebar but I do suggest you remove any notions you WILL get from site and not place them on myself. His story is what I found interesting and something fun to share.

*Yes I actually do/did that and it is/was to find a link that might amuse and the attempt was very successful.

Evolution

Time is no friend to most things until you bring into the thought of evolution and adaption. Problem is there is not going to be any talks of such events in the reality of the world. Rather, Pokemon will be the choice topic and point givers.

"Evolve" is one of the key words in the games be they card or video. While I am sure many of you see a stigma toward the games as "childish" the core mechanics of the playable, mostly hand held, games are the draw. To catch, train and watch grow several creatures under your control is the basic instinct of man (the race) to "play god". We all love to have a being at our whim, especially a digital one that can be sacrificed for the greater of its team and still be resurrected later.

While you the trainer are in no direct harm there is an implied emotional bond which takes "damage" when all of your Pokemon are no longer conscience. Upon each one dropping to the ground in exhaustion you, the trainer, are forced to no longer life on. (Game Over).

Ideas of evolution are not held by the game itself but also the way it is portrayed. The hardware, graphics, sound all slowly evolved over the years to go from something basic and yet fun to a much more engaging, if not sometimes micromanaged. Starting with only 150 creatures and then slowly doubling and even tripling the number of possible "pocket monsters" to catch.

Solve Unamusement supports the Pokemon games and encourages others to play them and enjoy. However, the rest of the "francise" is the problem and what is causing stigmata among the average hume. While the cartoon is fine for young children and the card game holds its place for several years, the viodo games will hold their flavor and fun even for a thirty year old man with a grown family.

Current games for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS can be found in most retailers but if you are savvy you may wish to try the VBA emulator for anything below the NDS. GBC and GBA games can both be played on the VBA so you could get the full experience you never took the time to have.

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Share Your Smilies

SHARE! SHARE! SHARE! Bring forth the yellow, the blue the happy and mean! They will always make you join in on their fun! Each has their own appeal to bring and each has its own personality to please or annoy you with! Please bring forth and add them to our world in odd and or funny places! Find them on a ball, in your food or perhaps make something new! How you spread the smile is of no consequence, just spread him wide for all to see! Even Mars knows how to share a smile so if its intergalactic, think of possibilities!

Now I say to you, again, "GO FORTH AND SHARE!"

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Who Needs Talent?

Depends on what you mean or imply by the words. Here at Solve Unamusement we like fun over anything else so sometimes talent is a bit over rated or over needed when just trying to have fun. If you have ever wanted to make some "real music" but were limited by some severe talent like issuse then do i have the musical instrument for you!

The Beamz is an "instrument" designed with the fun in mind. A very simple device to operate all you have to do is interup the laser beams and it sends an electronic signal to the software which returns a sound. The best part, as also possibly the worst, is how the program always makes the music in tune. The problem most people have with this is that you aren't really making any music so much just poking at something that makes the music for you. Then again, who cares? We're looking for something fun!

Fun is what The Beamz is, iindeed I only wish I had one. I've messed with one a little while back when it was being demoed in a store and I didn't want to let it go. Sadly the price, at the time, was pushing $600. Now you can get The Beamz from its website for $199 or like $250 after all the extra stuff like taxes and shipping is added on.

Small Warning: You may look like a total fool or even an idiot while playing The Beamz but you will have fun! Essentually what you are looking at is a very small laser organ that never misses a beat.

If it wasn't for the price tag, which has dropped, there would be a full recommendation for this thing. As things are now, however, I'd say put that $250 to something more useful if not less fun.

Extra Note: Blog News Update here and some of you may have missed it.

NEStopia

Emulating the NES and/or Famicon is something that a lot of "oldies" would love to do and a lot of you already do. The SNES is where I personally stated so not much is known about the system other then the fact that if it wasn't for the NES no other console and games would exist at all. This includes current systems and games. One of the most obvious is one of the "high profile" series that started on this system.

An RPG to literally end all RPGs was the idea behind Final Fantasy. Square, which was the devolper at the time, was going under along with the system it was trying to make games for. So as a "last ditch" they made a game with a literal meaning. This was going to be their last fantasy game, ever. However the game sold and sold and sold so much that demand for a sequal was high. The now very drawn out and over done FF (Final Fantasy) series is due to this one game.

Not to mention a lot of "game standards" started on the NES. The first person RPG, which I am not a direct fan of usually, had its root on PC gaming at the time but the NES, and later the SNES, seemed good fits for the genere. However the type of game is all but phased out in today's world with the, as far as I know, exception of the Elder Scrolls games and some copy-cats, though could be mistaken.

The emulator for the NES that I would suggest is NEStopia and it is the one that many people on a frequented site I visit for ROMs and emulation visit. The emulator works very similar to the VBA with only small exceptions with some small set up "problems". The source folders for save states, cheat codes and other things will have to be "redirected" after download if you do not place the game directly in the documents folder and move on. It is simple to do as NEStopia auto detects where the folders from the unzip (actually the one I found was a .rar file) are. Simply telling the emulator to select defaults will do the trick as most will not use these features anyway. Going into the options tab of the the Emulator it is best to select each item and select the defaults for the program.

Upon fixing these settings and a few others to default all you'll need are the ROMs. I downloaded an NES package of all known ROMs as I've never played a single game on the system so its best to just have the full thousand plus titles available for me. Some are not full games and only demos or prototypes but that is only about a hundred of the thousand so there are still plenty of games with a simple and small download.

Caution: Using emulators and having ROMs without owning the cartridges is technically illegal. Any ESA restricted titles that are obtained are illegal even with owning the cartridge.

Extra Note: Any system that has been deemed as "dead" or obsolete is usually not "watched" to close by authorities and most let infractions slide even on ESA titles but a caution is still needed.

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Blog Update

After a lot of tweaking and alterations I've the blog in a manner I 100% like. One of those features etc that I have added is the ability to actually subscribe to this blogs RSS via email. This prevents from any excuses. The option is under "Blog Organization" and then "Subscription Options". I would like anyone who has the current mode of getting emails from Dudel@blogspot or whatever it was to subscribe this way as I'll be removing the emails from the "update list" via Blogger's controls. This makes things less cluttered and allows for you to get an actual feed post rather then a odd looking half arsy copy of the current post and nothing more.

I've also decided to use my "Relevant Pic" to showcase old posts that I would like others to "look at again" or ones that I know will provide quick amusement for later. As of the writing of this post a frame form "The Cat Came Back" short film is resting there. The image will ALWAYS link to the post I am trying to "make you" look at, so no worrys there. This will still be updated about four times a month OR once every week. Don't count on it being a regular day.

Been trying to limit the amount of "Games" related posts as well so somethings might seem "random" or possibly "out of place" as of late but it is only to showcase a slew of amusements and not just reiterate one. Some amusements are not personally partacken in but I have heard enough about or at least think I have, in order to post. Again, if you've ideas please leave comments. A few of you have and I have already used one of them. Thanks to syst3m_blonde69 for the suggestion on "Patches". I've one coming soon that has been suggested by joo with in the next couple of days.

Now a few other things are:

• Sometimes Blogger fails at posting and I must post the entry again. When this happens the comments on the old post go away. This is rare but when/if it does happen I will leave a note at the bottom explaining what happened. Recently this happened to this post and I'm sorry your comment was lost, Reb.

• At times there will be a scheduled post rather then my usual ones. These are because I know I will not be posting the next day or because I don't want to post the next day. These posts will be blog updates or news and labeled as such. This post is because I want to play a game, its research for a later post sure.

• Don't be afraid to leave comments. I don't really "monitor" them for the reason that the blog isn't at a point where I'll have trouble but I can easily remove comments if its an issue. As of now you may leave comments anonymously if you wish but I'd request you do not as it is easier to give credit when you've an idea.

• You can now sign in which makes leaving comments etc much easier. The follower widget wouldn't keep the colors I wanted so it was really annoying me so I removed it. The sign in widget is the middle ground of not having the thing on there at all and using something that makes me a little mad. Please forgive that the links in the widget are blue, they will not change for some reason and I gave up on trying to change them.
  

• Check the watch list! It is there for a reason and that is to share with others things that randomly amuse. If they didn't then they either wouldn't be on the blog or farther down under "Site Organization". The latter is doubtful.

• Old links and their link clusters are below the watch list in case you ever want to view the links again. I have little intention of removing links, but may "reorganize them" at one point in time if I thin the lists are becoming to cumbersome.

Now that you've been fully bombarded with information you are ready to live out your life in peace. Please keep reading and maybe leave a suggestion as I'd like to have people actively giving ideas. I do use them, especially when I don't really have anything "that day" of my own. Now a little something from a reader of my blog, here. Hope you like it!

Group X

Remember Group X? I would think that anyone with a PC and access to the net back in 04 and 03 remembers Group X very well but if not and/or you are thinking you should look on youtube for their vids then I have done the work for you. Audio might need adjusting for each video.

Hands off my hot dog!



I can count to Schfifty Five.



Who DOESN'T like Johnny Poo Poo Pants?

Oh 2004 I miss you and your nonsense! Flash was the most difficult thing to animate and only "masters" could do stick figure animations while Joe Cartoon was killing frogs in blenders. Wait, was frog in a blender before or after this?

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Making It Up

Sing a random song you don't know.

Make it up as you go!

Learn a beat, skip a loop or count to three.

Music is an easy thing as it is always free!

Don't be fooled by common place.

None of it needs typical space!
...or reason.

Making up songs spur of the moment for no real reason or manner other then to amuse yourself is something that Solve Unamusement is all about! Don't be self conscience you're at a PC, who's watching you? Maybe its a friend or family member, but who cares you can lie when someone questions if you did this. Maybe you admit to it and sing them a special concert of something random and absurd!

Brain not working and letting you make something fun, play a song and sing along! Do not fret you'll have fun, we all do it! Now take the next step, find music with no lyrics of a similar type you were just singing along to and make your own. Find the karaoke version on the net and don't read the words!

That too hard or difficult? Well I have another way you may still make up your funny song, no matter the reason. Lyrics first, lets find an item in the room you are at. Now find something else and instead focus on that item, rather then the first. After a bit, think of something fun you did in the last day. Got the item and the activity? THROW THEM TOGETHER IN ANY MANNER!

"Towel Gaming!"

Great we've an idea, now we need something about that idea. Let us go with the easy staple of "is fun" and add that to the end of our odd word conglomerate.

"Towel Gaming is fun!"

Nice, okay... let us NOW reverse the words.

"Fun is gaming towel!"

Finally add the phrase "because I" and throw in any reason you may or may not think of.

"Because I ate a sandwich".

PUT IT TOGETHER!

Towel Gaming is fun.

Fun is gaming towel.

Because I ate a sandwich!

If that alone didn't make you smile, you've a problem with your funny bone because it is officially broken.

There are plenty of reasons to make one of these stupid/silly/random songs and one of my favorite is psychological ware-fare. My favorite of these examples is a song I am not sure if I made up or stole from a cartoon many years ago in my elementary days. Regardless, it is great for cause of irritation.

I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves!

Everybody's nerves!

Everybody's nerves!

I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes!

Anyone singing this song is immune to its effects for some reason but those not singing quickly wish the others were not around. Either way at least you, the singer have a big grin on your face. Remember: The more the merrier! So ask others to join in the fun.

Warning: Being annoying for no reason may result in bodily harm.

Treasure Hunting

Something that has been occupying many people sense the very beginning of the civilized world is finding treasure. Whether that be the finding of silver, gems and gold or the discovery of a single artifact. Many men and women, mostly men, have used up their lives in the pursuit of treasure. Some have found grand things and others have been doomed to failure.

Treasure hunting comes in many, many forms and skill levels. They range from the basic hobbyist with a metal-detector who finds spare pocket change to the savvy pirate looking for plunder. The former is the most common and has become a very popular way to spend one's time and money. Personally I find it odd you must spend money to find treasure, especially when there is not much about to be found.

However, there is the middle ground of treasure hunting that consists of ship diving and spelunking. Both require a skill set that is not difficult to learn and a small degree of danger and difficulty but most people can, in fact, do them. These types of treasure hunting are the most profitable but require knowledge of where, what and other variables that a majority of people do not wish to bother with.

Luck is a major playing in treasure hunting as well. Without a map or epic clues leading you to your destination you are basically flying blind, even with hits or tips. Its a matter of "Oh whats over here" and "Lets peek under this rock" which most are not a favor of. Treasure hunting favor's the lucking and the persistent. You can not go out one day and try it then give up because nothing was found. Most treasure hunters go their entire life without so much as a gold coin but it is the adventure they are looking for, not the monetary reward.


I do know that most, if not all, of us wouldn't mind finding a big chest filled with jewels but lets not get our hopes up and have fun with this hobby, shall we?

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"Patches"

Firstly one must know absolutely nothing about the comic or the person who writes and draws it to fully enjoy. The comic itself is rather random and a bit absurd but that is its charm. While many other web-comics have a set theme they "bash" or follow, Patches does not. Its a simple comic about two hamster, rodent things (That is a slightly inside joke upon the comic itself) that live together under one roof.

Out of the two one is a simpleton. I do not mean he is "dumb" but rather is is literally retarded. His roommate is a logical being that gets caught up in the nonsense. To prove the one simple and the other more sophisticated their attire is plain to see. While the simple or stupid of the two rodents wears overals the other has glasses. Other wears depend on the joke or idea of each individual piece but the main jist is still there. Personally, I feel a litle bad for the smarter of the two but that may also be the idea.

The writer, illustrator and further more the creater of Patches sells paintings with their website as well as showcase the comic. If you are looking for something a little odd and possibly quirky you might give the person's gallery a view as well as reading the comic.

There are many other web-comics on the net as well this image below has a listing of some of the "major players". If Patches didn't fully grasp you then perhaps one of the others might.

(Image Source)

Scare-ie & Scare-er

Being scared is a case by case situation. Sometimes you're fear is founded because of the area of town you are in or the people you are around or the fire that is destroying the house you are currently sleeping in. Other times you are in a place, where fear should have no real place, like a zoo or amusement part. Understandable when you fear birds flying over your head or heights but the goal of this post is not to be scared but rather be scary.

Mainly the trick is to know your target. If you want to give someone a good fright and you know them to have arachnophobia then a simple plastic spider is a great tool for you. It gives you an unfair advantage but, provided the person you are playing the prank on has a sense of humor and isn't ninety plus years old, its all in good fun.

Now the "main trick" doesn't work to well for people afraid of something obscure like color chartreuse or if you don't know their fear. A good thing to try in this situation would be the act of surprise. A manner of sneaking up on your intended target and giving them a good jolt with a loud noise or sudden movement. This will cause most, not all, people to at least become startled.

The difference between a startled reaction and fear response is the icing on the cake. Having someone jump for a second then instantly calm down is not the same as triggering a primal key in the brain for "fight or flight". A "fight or flight" reaction tends to be more rare even when someone is afraid of something you can replicate as most people come to the realization that the fear isn't real rather quick.

(The Scream painted by Edvard Munch)

That all being said and stiled over, you should not make it an extreme habit to frighten or scare someone. Sometimes it is appropriate and amusing, other times it can and will lead to trouble. Further times you may be aloud to scare someone and they have paid for you to do it, that is the best types of work but sadly it is seasonal.

Short: Scaring is fun and funny but do it with caution and understanding of who you are in fact scaring.

Bug Catching

Something that is usually considered a childish or immature hobby can be hours and hours of fun while never leaving your own back yard. While some may look down on this activity it is something keeps the body and mind working together in order to accomplish a goal.

The trick with Bug Catching or "Hunting" is knowledge of what you are hunting. You don't need to know what each insect-oid or "bug" eats, how and/or when it breeds or the specific type you are looking for but only general details. Simple facts about a general type of "bug" you wish to possibly see. This usually can be found on the net, links provided in side bar, or you can by a cheap book on "bugs", "insects" or the specific you wish to find such as "Spiders". Furthermore you could trim it down to your location only to prevent unwanted confusion. Upon catching a insect-oid you should NEVER EVER pick it up with your bare hands without knowing absolutely what you are touching. The insect world can be filled with rather dangerous things that could end wrong if not handled properly.

Some would say that not everyone should go "bug" hunting for previous reason stated and its opposite but I highly disagree. There is a grand enjoyment when you discover something with your own eyes. Image waking up in the morning to go and "check your traps" and finding several little beings all waiting for your eyes. You can then, if you wish, even catalog and diagram and illustrate (great for artists looking for realistic things in the world while still remaining slightly abstract) the things you have found. Sometimes Mother Nature surprises you with something you'd never have thought the time was worth looking for.

Tools of the trade, they range from the drastically simple to the expensively complicated. The choice depends on how serious you take the hobby and how much time you are willing to invest. While the more expensive of the "gear" is the easiest to use it requires the least amount of effort in collecting specimens for whatever reasons you have and in my honest opinion it is lost to fun. Entomologists, mostly, use the "tried and true" bug catching methods that you see children use.

• The Butterfly Net
• The Glass Jar
• The Light
• The Sketch Book or Field Guide

"Bug" catching really has to be the easiest thing to start into. You do not even have to touch anything if you aren't "that type" of person. Its great for artists looking for something strange within his/her own world. Good for the scientific mind who seeks wonder or reason as to what and why. And BEST for those willing to give a simple joy the time to make them smile.

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Living Worlds (Elder Scrolls Series)

The Elder Schools serious started out as a randomly integrated first person RPG that started out as the name implies. Arena was the first of the Elder Scrolls names and thus does not have the "Elder Scrolls" moniker the the others do. While each game is independent of the others while graphics and gameplay improve based on comments from players the best in the series is Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

This was the first one of the four to go fully 3D and start a rang of games after it. While the first two where its building blocks and their stories were great. The main draw to each of these games is the "play as you will" attitude of them. No class or race is stronger then any other, although one "combination" may work better then others upon character creation. Each game was/is a matter of play style.

Morrowind is such a grand game, in fact, that is STILL being sold retail while the game was released in 02 and its sequal has been out for some time now. There are even mods for Oblivion (the fouth in the serious) that directly alter the game to Morrowind's landscape and story.

The advancement in technology is a wondrous thing as it allows for better graphics but the story is the same regardless of the colors on the book cover.

Arena

Daggerfall


Morrowind

Oblivion

While graphically the games have been revamped and upgraded the stories take their turns. Morrowind is by far the best of the four because it has a nice balance of them all. Arena and Daggerfell get a small boost for being able to keep up with their story despite the technological restriction but Oblivion has no excuse for its weak story.

All of these games may be played on your PC, one way or another. Arena and Daggerfell may require a emulator program to operate but Morrowind and Oblivion should work with most standard systems. As far as I know, only Arena is shareware but checking the Elder Scrolls site, found in side bar, should clarify any and all misconceptions you may or may not have.